Fluid operated fountain blade



June 1, 1965 c. T. TURNER ETAL. 3,186,339

FLUID OPERATED FOUNTAIN BLAE INVENTORS Ch our/es' T-Tu'rner 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 and wil/iam F.' wa'rd BV/ ATTORN Filed July 17, 1963 June l, 1955 c. T. TURNER ETAL 3,186,339

FLUID OPERATED FOUNTAIN BLADE Filed July 17, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 2 s l 9 2 .s 8 23 INVENTORS C/rar/es 7. Turner anni June 1, 1965 c. T. TURNER ETAL FLUID OPERATD FOUNTAIN BLADE 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 17, 1963 INVENTORs C'vccr/es 7T Tourne-r and June 1, 1965 c. T. TURNER ETAL 3,136,339

FLUID OPERATED FOUNTAIN BLADE Filed July 17, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 s\ I"il INVENTORS Char/es T TAY/7e?- and CUN/fam F ward ATTORN June TURNER ETAL 3,186,339

FLUID OPERATED FOUNTAIN BLADE Filed July 17, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 United States Patent O 3,1%,339 FLUID @FERATED FUNIAIN BLADE Charles T. Turner and William F. Ward, Baltimore, Md., assignors to Flynn t: Emrieh Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed lui? 17, r-ldd, Ser. No. 295,662 2 Claims. (Cl. lill-365) This invention relates to a fluid operated fountain for a printing press or printer slotter in which the adjustment of the fountain blade along the fountain roller must be ever so accurate in order to deliver the proper amount of ink along the entire roller. These rollers and blades for certain models of presses are seventy-live inches long and more and it is frequently desirable that different quantities of ink be delivered by the ink fountain to different locations along the roller. For this purpose it has been customary to place approximately every two inches along the blade a thumb screw to bear upon and force the blade into the desired adjusted spacing with respect to the roller so that the amount of ink delivered by the roller may be somewhat varied through each of these respective two inches. i

The present invention is an improvement over this practice by providing not only the thumb screw adjustment f the portions of the blade as they are adjusted adjacent the roller but also means are provided to force the whole blade by one operation against the roller with a yielding force so that the flow of ink from the fountain may be cut olf completely by this one operation instead of by tightening each of the screws along the whole length of the blade. 'Ihis resilient complete shut-olf prevents undue distortion of the fountain roller often caused by the overtightening of individual thumb screws.

Another object of the invention is not only to close off the ink ilow but also to leave the screw settings as they were originally used, upon the resumption of the use of the fountain, the blade settings will not have to be reset by changing the thumb screw settings, they remain as they were originally adjusted.

rlhe resilient close-off of the ink flow may be used to thin out a heavy ink supply by briefly cutting olic the iiow, then adjusting the blade setting by the screws and then resuming the normal use of the adjusted blade.

Also the resilient close-off may be used to wash up the rolls. The rolls are operated spaced from contact with the printing members which causes them to return ink to the fountain roller and with the blade set against the fountain roller, the ink is scraped from the fountain roller by the resiliently set blade and retained in the fountain, which is then cleaned out. The rolls may then be sprayed with a solvent, and the diluted ink on them is fed back to the fountain. During this feed back the returned diluted ink is also wiped from the fountain roller by the resiliently set blade, and retained in the fountain.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the withdrawal of the whole blade from the roller and still leave the settings of the thumb screws intact. This setting remains through ink shut-olf and roll cleaning as well as the more thorough roll cleaning and fountain cleaning when the blade is removed completely from the roller.

Other objects and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following description and the'accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

FIGURE l is a transverse sectional View through the ink trough, the blade and roller and the blade adjusting means of this invention. Y

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the left end of the same structure.

FIGURE 3 is a continuation and similar view of the right end of this construction with portions of the blade and roller broken away.

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FIGURE 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a transverse sectional view on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view partly in section on line 6-6 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary top plan view, partly in section, of the left hand end of a modification of the invention of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 8 is a continuation and similar view of the right hand end of the modification of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 9 is a vertical sectional view on line 9-9 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view on line 10-10 of FIG- URE 9.

FIGURE l1 is a vertical transverse sectional view similar to FIGURE l, of a second modification of the ink fountain of this invention.

FIGURE l2 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 12-12 of FIGURE ll.

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary top plan view of the left end of the second modification.

FIGURE 14 is a similar view of the right end of the second modification.

FIGURE l5 is a transverse vertical sectional view on line it-15 of FIGURE 14.

In the drawings similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views. The fountain trough 1 has a fountain roller 2 rotatably mounted therein from which ink is removed by a series of rollers which finally apply the ink to dies on the printing cylinder of the press. The fountain is attached to the press by means of the bolts 3. The fountain has a trough base 4 and attached thereto by bolts 5 is fountain strip 6 and in the construction shown this strip is divided into five zones or sections as shown at '7. Across the whole of the fountain strip sections the fountain blade eis attached by means of screws 9. The fountain blade is attached to the fountain strip as it normally lies straight, in the dotted line position of FIGURE 1, substantially removed from the fountain roller. When in use it is close to the fountain roller as illustrated in the solid sectional showing of FIGURE l.

Each section of the fountain strip 6 has a plurality of plunger passages or cylindrical openings itl therein receiving a plunger composed of two sections, a sealing and fountain blade setting plunger section 11 and adjusting plunger section 12. Both of these sections have O-rings 13 set in grooves therein to make a fluid seal with the passages 19. The plunger sections 12 each operate a rocker I4 having bearings 15 mounted in supports 16 on base 4 of the trough. The rockers are supported offcenter, to prevent their binding against the plunger end. The bearings 15 have projecting portions 17, so that adjacent projecting portions 17 abut one another to center the rockers within their supports 16 and the end supports have pins 18 therein to center'the end rockers.

The plunger sections 11 and 12 have thereon engaging projections 19 and 2G respectively and sealing section 11 is engaged by the end of thumb screw 21. These thumb screws 21 are threaded in support strip 22 aliixed to the fountain strip 6 by screws 23. From the construction so far described, it will be apparent that through the rockers, i

the lplungers are connected to the blade and that turning the thumb screws adjusts the position of the blade with respect to the fountain roller.

A iiuid passage 24 passes approximately centrally through the sectional fountain strip 6. Between the sections the passage is made continuous by the O-ring sealed tubularV members 25. Fluid is admitted to this continuous passage at the right hand end through pipe 26 having a three-way valve 27 therein and an outlet valve Z8 in outlet pipe 29 at the left hand end. Fluid pressure admitted to entrasse the right hand end of the iuid passage will therefore resiliently but uniformly raise the blade against and into ink cut-off position with the fountain roller 2 by moving the plunger sections 12 against their respective adjacent rockers regardless of the setting of the thumb screws 21 and the sealing portions 11 of the plungers.

In the usual operation of the fountain the thumb screws 21 are adjusted individually to permit the fountain roller to deliver the desired amounts of ink throughout its length. This individuality is desirable whether the delivery of the ink should beV uniform throughout the whole length of the roller or whether it should be greater in certain portions of the length. By this adjusting of the thumb screws also the ink may be cut off from certain portions of the roller.

At times it is desirable to quickly remove the blade from the roller for thorough cleaning of the whole trough or the roller Without disturbing the setting `of the thumb screws 21 and to accomplish this purpose the support strip 22 is mounted on additional screws 30 shouldered to space their heads from the strip, so that upon the release of screws 23 the strip would be removed the length allowed by the screws 30. This release by the support strip will still leave the thumb screws in the adjusted position. The thumb screws 21 also have lock-nuts 31 thereon which are initially set again-st strip 22 and then against each other to position the whole blade against the roller evenly to cut off ink flow mechanically and without undue roller distortion. The press operator then releases and sets the desired screws to obtain the proper ink flow. The lock-nuts also make pos-sible quick and accurate closeoff of portions of the blade where ink may not be desirable.

In the first modification illustrated by FIGURES 7, 8, 9 and the tubular members 25 are replaced by solid plugs 35, and in Vthis modification the sectioned fountain strip has each section individually connected to an inlet liuid pressure passage 36, each having a three-way inlet valve 37. The last section is also provided with a two-way outlet valve 28, like the valve 28 in the preferred form. When it is desired to close the flow of ink from the whole fountain length the three-way valves for each section are each set to admit iiuid into the section, When it is desired to admit uid pressure to only the end Sections and shut off the center portion the inlet valves are set as shown at 38 in FIGURES 7 and 8 and the other valves as shown at 39 in FIGURES 7 and 8. With this setting, with pressure on, ink will be delivered by the center portion of the roller only.

1t will be apparent that this first modification can be changed to the preferred form by substituting tubular members 25 for the plugs 35 and removing the iiuid inlets from all but the first section of the fountain strip 6 and plugging the openings by plugs 40. It will likewise be apparent that the preferred form may be Changed to the iirst modified by a reversal of the steps just described.

A second modification of the invention is illustrated by FIGURES 11 through 15. Instead of having the fountain strip drilled through, a slot is cut at the bottom along its total length, which is not divided into sections, to provide an air passage 41 which admits air to all the plungers as in the preferred form. This passage 41 is sealed on its lower side by a :sealing plate 42 held on the fountain strip by screws 43 with a gasket 44 between the plate and strip.

Fluid is'admitted to the right end of this passage 41 by the valved pipe 45 having a valved outlet 45. This particular modification does not allow the same facility for dividing the fountain strip into sections and closing off portions of the fountain roller a-s does that of the preferred form.

, It will be apparent from the above description and the accompanying drawings that a fountain has been shown which allows for the adjusting of the blade for the roller to deliver ink in varying quantities along its length or in a uniform quantity along its length and that the delivery of ink by the fountain may beshut off quickly without disturbing the setting of the desired relation of the blade to the roller.

Although various modifications of the invention have been shown, it will be apparent that other modifications may be made within the scope of the invention and of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A quick cut-off ink fountain for a printing press comprising a fountain trough having a base and a fountain roller journalled in the trough, a fountain blade on the base normally spaced from and adjustably mounted for wiping contact with the roller when elevated thereto, a fountain strip between the base and blade having therein a plunger passage normal to the blade length, plunger means comprising two coaxial, axially spaced plunger sections in said passage connected to the blade, both plunger sections having iiuid seals between them and their passage, and said passage and plunger sections having a fluid entry between the sections and the plunger means including means extending between the sections to transmit mechanical pressure between the sections in the absence of fluid pressure, longitudinal movement of the plunger means adjusting the blade adjacent thereto in spaced relation to the roller, manual means to effect said movement, means to admit iiuid pressure through said entry between the plunger sections, the pressure operating the plunger section adjacent the blade to press the blade into roller contact without disturbing the adjustment of the plunger section remote from the blade.

2. A quick cut-off ink fountain for a printing press comprising a fountain trough having a base and a fountain roller journalled in the trough, a fountain blade on the base normally spaced from and adjustably mounted for wiping contact with the roller when elevated thereto, a plurality of parallel fountain srtips between the base and blade having a plurality of plunger passages therein normal to the blade length, plunger means comprising two coaxial, axially spaced plunger sections in each of said passages, each :section having a fluid seal with its surrounding passage, the plunger means being connected to the blade to raise the blade to roller contact upon longitudinal movement of the plungers, manual means to adjust the plungers individually to position the blade through its length in spaced relation to the roller and means to admit iiuid pressure between the plunger sections, the pressure operating the plunger sections adjacent the blade to press the blade into roller contact without disturbing the adjustments of the plunger sections remote from the blade, the plunger means including means extending between the sections to transmit mechanical pressure between the sections in the absence of fluid pressure, the fountain strips having passages therein for the passage of fluid pressure therebetween and to the respective plunger passages to operate the plunger sections adjacent the blade in unison with each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 729,002 5/03 Spalckhaver In 101-364 X 1,051,768 l/l3 Rumold 92-13 X 1,275,348 8/18 Wood 101-363 2,520,230 8/50 Weber et al *101-357 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,102,181 3/61 Germany.V

168,933 9/21 Great Britain.

366,914 2/32 Great Britain.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. ROBERT E. PULFREY, Examiner; 

1. A QUICK CUT-OFF INK FOUNTAIN FOR A PRINTING PRESS COMPRISING A FOUNTAIN TROUGH HAVING A BASE AND A FOUNTAIN ROLLER JOURNALLED IN THE RTOUGH, A FOUNTAIN BLADE ON THE BASE NORMALLY SPACED FROM AND ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED FOR WIPING CONTACT WITH THE ROLLER WHEN ELEVATED THERETO, A FOUNTAIN STRIP BETWEEN THE BASE AND BLADE AND HAVING THEREIN A PLUNGER PASSAGE NORMAL TO THE BLADE LENGTH, PLUNGER MEANS COMPRISING TWO COAXIAL, AXIALLY SPACED PLUNGER SECTIONS IN SAID PASSAGE CONNECTED TO THE BLADE, BOTH PLUNGER SECTIONS HAVING FLUID SEALS BETWEEN THEM AND THEIR PASSAGE, AND SAID PASSAGE AND PLUNGER SECTIONS HAVING A FLUID ENTRY BETWEEN THE SECTIONS AND THE PLUNGER MEANS INCLUDING MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SECTIONS TO TRANSMIT MECHANICAL PRESSURE BETWEEN THE SECTIONS IN THE ABSENCE OF FLUID PRESSURE, LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF THE PLUNGER MEANS ADJUSTING THE BLADE ADJACENT THERETO IN SPACED RELATION TO THE ROLLER, MANUAL MEANS TO EFFECT SAID MOVEMENT, MEANS TO ADMIT FLUID PRESSURE THROUGH SAID ENTRY BETWEEN THE PLUNGER SECTIONS, THE PRESSURE OPERATING THE PLUNGER SECTION ADJACENT THE BLADE TO PRESS THE BLADE INTO ROLLER CONTACT WITHOUT DISTRUBING THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE PLUNGER SECTION REMOTE FROM THE BLADE. 